Olivia Gentil

Dr. Holt

English 12: Bard

24 April 2020

Capstone: The Evolution of Fashion Photography

Photography was t first a science, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French man took it in 1826

, it was a revolutionary invention. It was the first time someone captured a picture in time, that wasn’t

paint or a sculpture among many other art forms that existed many centuries before. As photography

grows the medium is used for many things, taking a school or family picture, documenting historical

moments and art. People being able to express their vision of things through a camera, engaging

photographs about social and political issue, taking a picture of a river because it is pretty, it was a new

way of expression. We see photography every day, everywhere, one genre that is extremely prominent in

our culture is fashion photography, it is on magazines, social media and all over the world for

commercials and such. This genre has changed so much over the years and affected society. How has

fashion photography evolved and influenced society through the years?

Fashion photography was born in the 1850s, when portraits of high societal women were

taken portraits of, showcasing their beautiful clothing. The first fashion model was the Countess di

Castiglione Virginia Oldoni, she was Napoleon III’s mistress and a very popular woman. She and

photographer Pierre Louis Pierson worked on different sets and themes for many shoots. After her many

other celebrities became subjects of those images: actresses such as Sandra Bernhardt. This shows how

fashion photography and the world of fashion in general has always been very involved with celebrities,

that becomes even more obvious later. After these popular women were introduced in these photographs,

photographers and designers started working with women that did not have a particular status; choosing

them for their beauty. In the 1900s the first events and fashion shows appeared. Fashion photography was
present before the rising of the fashion industry; it made the industry a much bigger world, especially

when photographs were added to fashion magazines.

Fashion magazines existed well before the first photograph, they had illustrations show

casing the clothing.  But photography really helped this glamourous printing business. Harper’s Bazaar

and Vogue were the first American fashion magazines and they were the ones that completely

transformed and bettered fashion magazines. They both started in the late 19 century, which meant that
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the rise of fashion photography was very well in place for the beginning of these two emblematic names.

With time the technology became better, and they did not only have a simple picture but were able to

create pages with pictures and words on the same page, it boosted the popularity, and by the 20 century
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Vogue was the leading fashion magazine followed close by Harper’s Bazaar.

Now that fashion photography had heavily influenced the development of magazines, it

was time for those photographs to influence society in heavy ways, with fashion photography really

starting to approach pop culture. Fashion was now fully amerced in the world, people wanted to dress like

in the magazines and needed it to be accessible, they were trying to find some kind of thing to relate to.

The 60s really were a turning point in fashion photography as photographers started taking fashion

pictures in the streets, giving it a whole new dimension. A very well know series that ended being in

Vogue, was “New York: Young Idea goes West” by David Bailey; who was a very well-known and

respected. This series shows Jean Shrimptom, who shortly after became a supermodel, wearing chic yet

ordinary outfits in the street. This started a whole new movement mixing the genres of street and fashion.

Other photographs were going around of young people, in the streets wearing trendy clothing. The

concept of trends had existed for a long time, but it became more and more prominent, with this relatable

era of the 60s. People wanted to wear what the subjects were wearing, this is something that has

continued growing over the years being extremely important in present culture with social media. To go

back to the very beginning celebrities were also very involved in the business. The use of celebrities was

highly used when movie stars started emerging. One can find many fashion photographs of Audrey

Hepburn for example, and she was a huge fashion icon and still is to this day. Picking up a vogue
magazine or any other fashion magazine often showcases very well-known and respected celebrities, even

the models become celebrities. Being able to see how a magazine of the sort works, for example in the

“Madame Figaro”, there is always a celebrity rubric, and a shoot with multiple images almost always

showcasing a famous person in gorgeous pictures, with gorgeous clothing.

Many have influenced and impacted the genre, from Helmut Newton to Richard Avedon

by Paolo Roversi… Two have overwhelmed the industry as well as myself; Annie Leibovitz and Bill

Cunningham. Leibovitz is probably the most respected women in the industry, she is an American

photographer who got her real start working for Rolling Stone, showcasing the exciting and hard life of

living on the road. She is most known for her celebrity pictures. She started in the world of fashion when

Ana Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue magazine, the most powerful critic among the tough world of

fashion. Leibovitz was there to cover the couture collection of the magazine in 1999. She worked many

times for the magazine taking the picture of Hillary Clinton for the cover in 1998 to her infamous Alice in

Wonderland photograph in 2003. It would be too hard to talk about all of her most iconic work, because

pretty much all of it is. She has forever punched the industries of photography and fashion and will

continue to do so. Bill Cunningham who sadly died two year ago in New York.

 Earlier David Bailey and his revolutionary series was mentioned, Cunningham seemed

very influenced as he took pictures of regular people in the streets of New York. A perfect mix of street

and fashion. If he liked the way someone was dressed or looked, he just had to push a button and make

history over and over again; a determined new Yorker getting a cab dresses in flowy pants and a romantic

white blouse became art. He also likewise Leibovitz took some celebrity pictures but never in a pose. One

that is breathtaking features David Bowie and Ava Cherry, at the Grammys in 1975; they both have

strong hats, Cherry looks straight at the lens with a wide and powerful look, whereas Bowie has the

shadow of his hat covering his eyes leaving this mysterious bottom half of the face with very strong

features. He liked the natural, snapping a moment, in fact in almost all of his most famous work the

subjects are walking. He and Leibovitz are related in another way: Anna Wintour. He was a dear friend of

hers, and went to many fashion shows sitting next to her, showing how important he was. The funny thing
about him is that he was very low-key, always dressed very mundane, often in blue, he did not look like

he was remotely part of the fashion industry, he was the man behind the camera. The true meaning of

humble and humbling.